Premier League 24/25 Season Handicap market released

Ahead of the new season, the ever-popular Season Handicap market has been released for the 2024/25 Premier League.

bet365's Steve Freeth said: "We weren't on our own in underestimating the powers of Unai Emery last season, but we had our fingers burnt by giving his Aston Villa side a 32-point start in what was our worst Premier League ante-post result of the 23/24 season with the Lions being backed from 15/1 into 10/1.

"This season's Handicap makes fascinating reading and we could be taking another chance by offering the Spaniard's outfit at +24, but maybe we'll see a better showing from the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Newcastle in 2024/25.

"Crystal Palace could have their backers after the way they ended the last campaign, and could Ipswich follow in the footsteps of Sheffield United in 2019/20 by winning with a handicap of over 50 points?"

For those new to the market, each team is assigned a points total which essentially acts as a head start for the season.

At the end of the campaign, each team’s handicap is added to their actual points total, and whoever finishes with the most points wins.

Keep in mind, the team you back must finish above all other teams after all handicaps have been added. See last season’s final table as an example below:

Team	Handicap	Points	Total
Aston Villa	32	68	100
Arsenal	10	89	99
Bournemouth	50	48	98
Liverpool	12	82	94
Wolves	48	46	94
Fulham	46	47	93
Tottenham	26	66	92
Man City	0	91	91
Crystal Palace	42	49	91
West Ham	38	52	90
Everton	48	40	88
Nottingham Forest	50	32	82
Luton	56	26	82
Chelsea	18	63	81
Brentford	40	39	79
Newcastle	18	60	78
Brighton	30	48	78
Man Utd	14	60	74
Burnley	48	24	72
Sheffield United	54	16	70

Anywhere around the mid-90s would typically be a strong season with 100+ usually required to win, but with a number of teams grossly underperforming two seasons ago, 100 wasn’t even enough for a place.

Previous winners

Season	Winner	Total points
2023/24	Aston Villa +32	100
2022/23	Brentford +46	105
2021/22	Liverpool +7	99
2020/21	West Ham +44	109
2019/20	Sheffield United +52	106
2018/19	Liverpool +6	103

Premier League 24/25 Season Handicap:

Team	Handicap	Odds
Man City	0	15/1
Arsenal	(+2)	15/1
Liverpool	(+9)	15/1
Chelsea	(+16)	15/1
Man Utd	(+18)	15/1
Newcastle	(+19)	15/1
Tottenham	(+20)	15/1
Aston Villa	(+24)	15/1
Brighton	(+32)	15/1
West Ham	(+34)	15/1
Crystal Palace	(+34)	15/1
Bournemouth	(+39)	15/1
Brentford	(+42)	15/1
Fulham	(+42)	15/1
Wolverhampton	(+42)	15/1
Everton	(+42)	15/1
Nottm Forest	(+47)	15/1
Southampton	(+50)	15/1
Ipswich	(+50)	15/1
Leicester	(+51)	15/1

Manchester City +0

As defending champions and favourites once again, Manchester City will start off scratch, meaning no points will be added to their final total. Of course, that hasn’t stopped them winning it before, when they reached 100 points in 2018, but when 100 points is roughly what you need to win, it’s a big ask for City to become Centurions once again.

Despite winning four titles in a row, there’s been a slight drop-off in City’s usual levels, recording 86, 93, 89 and 91 points in that time, and with Pep Guardiola potentially entering his final season, it’s hard to see the champions reaching 100 points.

Arsenal +2

While Manchester City’s levels are declining somewhat, Arsenal’s have been rising. There’s a case to say that they were actually the best team in the league last term, but were narrowly ousted by a side who’s been there and done it several times before.

The Gunners fell away two seasons ago to finish on 84 points but dug in to reach 89 last season. It still wasn’t quite enough, and the question now is can they make that final leap?

Arsenal have invested hugely over the last few years and time may be running out. If it’s not now, it may be never.

Liverpool +9

One of the biggest unknown quantities heading into the new season, Liverpool embark upon life without Jurgen Klopp.

Of course, the players are still there. Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah are all top-class players still, with a supporting class featuring Dominik Szoboszlai, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez.

Expectations may be tempered heading into the new campaign, but anything worse than third for Liverpool next season will be a disappointing campaign from Arne Slot’s men.

Chelsea +16

Does anybody have any idea what to expect from Chelsea this season? They seem to have two or three players for every position, yet we never found out what their best XI was last term, and even Mauricio Pochettino couldn’t get a tune out of them, losing his job after just one year in charge.

Enzo Maresca enjoys a growing reputation in the game – though there may be question marks regarding how his Leicester side didn’t win the Championship in March – and a fresh start at Stamford Bridge may be what’s required for Chelsea to fulfil their potential.

The club looks extremely dysfunctional at the moment, but they’ve got a talented manager and a very talented squad. If they can get the pieces to fit this year, a return to the Champions League is not beyond them.

Manchester United +18

It’s fair to say that, FA Cup triumph aside, last season was an unmitigated disaster for Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United, and the Dutchman is extremely fortunate to still be in post.

The stats about the amount of shots faced was being wheeled out on a weekly basis towards the end of the campaign, and while injuries certainly didn’t help, Ten Hag will need to quickly prove that with a reinforced and reinvigorated squad, he’s the man to lead United to glory.

The new signings look promising so far, and if the Dutchman can keep the rest of his squad fit, they can be hopeful of a return to the Champions League.

Newcastle +19

The victims of Manchester United’s FA Cup success, Newcastle United will not play in Europe this season. But is that such a bad thing? Eddie Howe’s squad isn’t deep enough to compete on multiple fronts, and with two injury-prone forwards in Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak, Howe could do with keeping them as fresh as possible.

There has been lots of talk about Newcastle having to sell in order to buy, but if they can keep their marquee players in place, a lighter fixture list could see a resurgence on Tyneside.

Tottenham +20

Life could hardly have started any better for Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham, but by the end of the campaign, Spurs returned more to where people expected in finishing outside the top four.

Signs have been promising however, and the addition of Archie Gray could be significant. They’ll have to contend with European football this term, but one or two more key additions and Tottenham may be able to take that next step and reach the Champions League.

Aston Villa +24

The big question for Aston Villa is how they back up last season heading into the new campaign, where they’re guaranteed eight Champions League fixtures – and likely two more in the new year.

The departures of Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz are big blows, but Amadou Onana and Ian Maatsen are solid arrivals, keeping Villa’s net spend this year at around £0.

Villa were excellent last season and defied all expectations, but while 68 points has been enough to finish fourth, last season was just the third time in eight seasons when that total would’ve finished fourth. Villa took advantage of their misfiring rivals, many of whom will be rejuvenated this time around.

Can Villa stay with them?

Brighton +32

Only Brighton could batter Manchester United at Old Trafford before embarking on a six-game winless streak shortly after, which included games with Sheffield United, Fulham and Everton, as well as a 6-1 defeat to Aston Villa.

The highs last season for Brighton were high and included wins over Manchester United, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Tottenham, but the lows included too many sloppy defeats that would deny them a second European campaign, and more consistency is required at the Amex this time around.

Everybody knows how savvy Brighton are in the transfer market, and the big-money signings of Yankuba Minteh and Mats Wieffer will surely excite the fans, even if they’re players they’re unlikely to have seen much of before, based simply on the club’s track record if nothing else.

With no European football this time, new manager Fabian Hurzelor will hope to be less burdened by injury than his predecessor was last season, and the Seagulls can be confident of another top-half finish.

West Ham +34

The David Moyes era comes to an end and the Julen Lopetegui era begins. While Moyes has done an excellent job at the London Stadium, Lopetegui is the stronger of the two managers.

There are enough talented players at West Ham for Lopetegui to build around – Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen et al (assuming they’re all there after the transfer window shuts) – while the additions of Max Kilman and Luis Guilherme give the Hammers more solidity at the back and more flair going forward, though they still look to be a proper centre-forward short of a really good season.

Crystal Palace +34

It would hardly be unfair to say that Crystal Palace have redefined mid-table mediocrity over their 11-year stint in the top flight. Never higher than 10th, never lower than 15th. Never fewer than 41 points, never more than 49, it’s actually remarkable how consistent the Eagles have been over the years.

But that may change under Oliver Glasner. Palace looked like a new outfit under the German following his arrival last season, and the fact he got them to 49 points and 10th place despite only joining in February is hugely promising.

They finished the season with six wins from seven, which included a 1-0 win over Liverpool before the demolition jobs on Manchester United and Aston Villa.

The loss of Michael Olise is significant (without him, Palace picked up just 21 points in 19 games), but they’ll have Adam Wharton for a full campaign, with Cheick Doucoure back from injury.

Bournemouth +39

One of the surprise packages of last season – certainly according to the handicap market, where they nearly pipped Aston Villa – Bournemouth can look forward to a second season under Andoni Iraola.

One of the most talented managers in the league, it did take Iraola a few months to implement his desired philosophy on the south coast, but when it clicked, the Cherries were a superb outfit to watch, picking up 19 points from a possible 21 in the run-up to Christmas, scoring 18 goals.

Dominic Solanke shouldered the goalscoring burden, but there’s no reason to think he can’t do it again, and Bournemouth can be expectant of another mid-table finish.

Brentford +42

A look at Brentford’s best XI and you don’t see many players who you expect to be making moves to top clubs any time soon, but they’re such a well organised unit under Thomas Frank and constantly more than the sum of their parts that the individual quality doesn’t matter all that much.

Despite Ivan Toney’s absence for much of last season, the Bees always had enough points to stay out of trouble and finished the campaign strongly, taking 10 points from their final six games, and losing just two of their last nine.

Toney’s future is still up in the air and he’ll certainly be a huge miss if he does leave, but the exciting Igor Thiago has completed his move on the back of an 18-goal season in the Belgian Pro League.

Wolves +42

The departure of skipper Max Kilman is perhaps not ideal, but Wolves can at least say they’ve got a good fee for him. Where that money goes, however, is another question.

Gary O’Neil has done a really impressive job at Molineux, and with a good keeper in Jose Sa along with the talented Pedro Neto and Joao Gomes, you wouldn’t expect to see Wolves in any relegation trouble, but do they have enough about them to contend in the season handicap market?

Fulham +42

They may have confounded the xG gods upon their return to the Premier League, but despite the loss of Aleksandar Mitrovic they were solid again last season, safely in mid-table and never looking like being relegated.

Despite that, the departures of Joao Palhinha and Tosin Adarabioyo are significant and both men need replacing.

Everton +42

It’s now been three consecutive seasons in which Everton have failed to surpass 40 points or that they’ve had a goalscorer surpass 10 goals. Sean Dyche will always bring a degree of solidity, but the Toffees have been dicing with danger for too long, and the departure of Amadou Onana won’t help.

With their ownership issue still in the air, there’s too much uncertainty at the club, and if offered now, you sense Toffees fans would take merely surviving once again.

Nottingham Forest +47

The big-money signing of Elliot Anderson who has just 13 Premier League starts to his name may have raised some eyebrows, but the signing of Nikola Milenkovic looks very shrewd and Nottingham Forest should have more defensively solidity.

They still have the talented Morgan Gibbs-White in midfield, but concerns remain about a lack of goals, and it’s hard to see Chris Wood repeating his 14-goal effort from last term.

Southampton +50

But for an odds-defying win the play-off final over Leeds United, Southampton would still be in the second tier.

A promising start to the season was severely derailed when losing four games on the spin, but the Saints responded with a 22-match unbeaten run which briefly saw them inside the automatics. A middling end to the season meant they’d have to settle for the play-offs, but a win at Wembley saw them return to the top flight at the first time of asking.

It doesn’t look like the strongest promoted trio, however. Gavin Bazunu was statistically the worse goalkeeper in the Premier League two years ago and remarkably maintained that record in the Championship.

Southampton at the moment look the best placed of the three promoted teams to stay up, but contending in the season handicap market could be beyond them.

Ipswich +50

After recording back-to-back promotions it’s hard to know what to expect from Ipswich. Would anyone be surprised if they finished 10th? Would anyone be surprised if they finished rock bottom?

Kieran McKenna had to tweak his tactics to cope with the rigours of the Championship after being so much better than so much of their League One opposition, but after a to-and-fro season, the Tractor Boys edged past Leeds to nick the automatic promotion spot.

In the last seven years, only one newly promoted team has won the season handicap – Sheffield United – but it doesn’t feel like it’s beyond the realms of possibility for McKenna’s men.

Leicester +51

Leicester’s squad that competed in the Championship last season may have been the best to have ever competed in the Championship. Littered with players that wouldn’t look out of place in mid-table Premier League teams, anything other than automatic promotion would have been a huge failure.

They’ve kept the majority of that squad together, and with all else equal, you’d expect Leicester, with Steve Cooper now at the helm to stay up.

But there’s a looming points deduction that could be as many as 15 points. With that in mind, Leicester may need to reach 50 points in order to survive, and it would make contending in the season handicap extremely difficult.